Tag: Workers Comp

At least 29 states have passed or are looking to enact legislation that allows health care facilities to establish independent police forces to address a rising tide of violence against health care workers, according to a research report published Thursday by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Health care workers are disproportionately at risk for workplace violence compared with other workers, and the increase in incidents is part of a broader trend of rising health care worker violence over the past decade, the report states.

Possible reasons behind the violence increase include patients’ frustration with health care costs, limited treatment options and wait times.

State legislatures are approaching the issue by either increasing punishment for perpetrators or by mandating that health care facilities implement prevention measures designed to improve workplace safety, the report states.

The states considering allowing facilities to create their independent police forces say the proposals arose because of health care workers’ direct demands and lobbying by hospital systems.

“States are aware of the rising violence against health care workers and have taken steps to respond, focusing on both preventing violence before it happens and on increased penalties for attacks after they occur,” the report states.

The report says that states are stepping in since Congress has yet to take any action on the issue.  

 

 

 

Lawmakers in Louisiana on Monday introduced legislation that would create a Medicare-based fee schedule for workers compensation payers.

H.B. 198, which was sent to the Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations, aims to create a fee schedule for services that would amount to 150% of what Medicare charges or the actual charge made for the service, whichever is less.

Under current law state, regulators set the reimbursement schedule for drugs, supplies, hospital care and services, and medical and surgical treatment. Changes to the schedule may be made annually.

Younger workers have become injured on the job at higher rates than their older counterparts in states that have legalized recreational marijuana, according to a study published Friday in the JAMA Health Forum.   

Researchers from San Diego State University, Bentley University and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside found that recreational marijuana law adoption correlated with a statistically significant increase in workplace injuries among workers between the ages of 20 and 34 between 2006 and 2020.

Recreational marijuana laws were associated with a 12.9% increase in workplace injuries per 100 full-time employees, the study shows.

“Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that recreational marijuana impedes cognitive function and care among younger workers,” the authors wrote. “This differs from older workers, for whom prior research uncovered a decline in workers’ compensation benefit receipt and nontraumatic injuries following RML adoption.”

Researchers used workplace injury data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.

The study factored into account medical marijuana laws, decriminalization measures, macroeconomic conditions, substance use policies and maximum workers compensation benefits.  

 

 

 

A federal appellate court ruled Thursday that a former prison guard wasn’t permitted to collect workers compensation disability benefits from Washington, D.C., while simultaneously collecting federal retirement disability benefits.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals vacated a judge’s order reinstating David Fant’s workers comp benefits, which had been challenged by the District of Columbia’s Office of Risk Management over claims that Mr. Fant couldn’t receive both types of benefits for the same injury.

Mr. Fant injured his back in 1989, after which he received temporary total disability benefits from the district. He was approved for federal retirement disability benefits in 1993.

Mr. Fant received both types of benefits until 2017 when the district Office of Risk Management terminated the comp benefits because, it argued, Mr. Fant couldn’t double collect.  

A judge ruled Mr. Fant was permitted to collect both types of benefits because a change in law prohibiting double collection didn’t occur until 2010, and retroactively apply the revised law was improper.

The appeals court agreed with the Office of Risk Management, ruling that once the 2010 revised law went into effect, Mr. Fant should have been barred from receiving any further district workers comp benefits while he received federal retirement disability benefits.

The appeals court remanded the case to the lower judge with an order to uphold the termination of workers comp benefits.

 

 

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Thursday it cited a Georgia auto parts manufacturer after a worker suffered severe injuries in an electrical transformer explosion in August 2023.

OSHA cited Columbus-based Aludyne Columbus LLC, which operates as Aludyne Columbus Foundry, after investigators discovered a worker was severely injured by an electrical arc flash while attempting to replace a blown fuse on a transformer.

Aludyne Columbus was cited for 22 serious and three other-than-serious violations after OSHA said the company engaged in numerous workplace safety failures, including not requiring employees to wear appropriately certified electrical suits while working in high-voltage energized areas.

OSHA proposed $182,344 in penalties.

The incident occurred six days after OSHA opened a separate complaint-driven inspection at the Columbus facility.

Aludyne Columbus has 15 business days to contest the citation and proposed penalty.

The company is a global manufacturer of aluminum, magnesium and iron cast and automotive parts that has more than 30 facilities in China, Europe, North America and South America. 

 

 

 

 

Lawmakers in Utah on Thursday introduced a bill that would place all injuries incurred during police work under presumption.

H.B. 368 states that “(i)f a law enforcement officer is injured while engaging in duties as a law enforcement officer pursuant to the officer’s employment at a law enforcement agency, there is a rebuttable presumption that the injury arose out of, and in the course of, employment.”

The presumption may be rebutted “by a preponderance of the evidence,” the bill states.

If passed, the change would go into effect May 1.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday proposed a penalty of nearly $2.5 million for an Alabama sawmill after a worker was killed when he fell into a woodchipper.

The fatality occurred in August 2023 at a sawmill operated by Phenix Lumber Co. in Phenix City. The 20-year employee had climbed atop an auger to access a difficult-to-reach area to unclog the woodchipper and was caught in the machinery.

OSHA cited Phenix Lumber and owners John Menza Dudley Jr. and Leslie Elizabeth Dudley for 22 willful violations, one repeat violation and five serious violations, and assessed a penalty of $2,471,683.

The agency said it inspected Phenix Lumber four times in the past five years, including following a fatality in 2020. It added the company to its Severe Violators Enforcement Program that same year.

Phenix Lumber has 15 business days to contest the latest citation and proposed penalty.

 

Connecticut lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would expand workers compensation benefits for certain first responders who suffer work-related strokes and blood clots in the line of duty.  

House Bill 5279 would create a workers comp presumption for municipal firefighters, police officers and state constables who suffer injuries caused by cerebrovascular incidents or pulmonary embolisms within 24 hours of responding to an emergency call or attending mandated training events.

The two new medical conditions would be added to existing law, which already provides a workers comp presumption for on-the-job cardiac emergencies.

Constables are a new class of first responder under the measure, which, if passed, would take effect on July 1.

The bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Security.

The Connecticut measure comes on the heels of a similar bill introduced earlier this month in New Jersey.

 

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday announced it cited a Massachusetts roofing contractor with a history of fall-related safety violations.

OSHA cited Framingham-based Brothers Construction Services Inc., which also operates as Brothers Construction and Roofing and Brothers Roofing, for eight willful, serious, repeat and other-than-serious violations and proposed $306,229 in penalties.

The citation relates to a complaint-driven investigation in August 2023 during which inspectors observed eight workers exposed to falls of up to 20 feet during a residential roofing construction job in Boston.

Brothers Construction failed to provide employees with adequate fall protection, didn’t properly train workers about fall hazards, failed to provide employees with hard hats and eye protection and failed to conduct regular job site safety inspections, OSHA said.

The company, which has been cited for similar violations dating back to 2011, has 15 business days to contest the citation and proposed penalties.